crude oils and fuels Flashcards
what is crude oil a mixture of
hydrocarbons
compounds that only contain hydrogen and carbon - joined together by covalent bonds
most are alkanes
what is the general formulae for the family of alkane hydrocarbons
C(n)H(2n+2)
eg methane = CH(4)
ethane = C(2)H(6)
draw methane as an alkane molecule displayed formulae
H | H--C--H | H
covalent bonds =straight line
atom is shown as its symbol
name the alkanes in order of smallest to biggest
methane ethane propane butane pentane hexane octane montane decade
what type of hydrocarbons are alkanes
saturated hydrocarbons
means contain as many hydrogen atoms as possible in each molecule
no more hydrogen atoms can be added
what’s a saturated hydrocarbon
carbon atoms are joined together by single bonds
makes them unreactive
apart from boring or combustion which is their reaction with oxygen in the air
what is distillation
process used to separate pure liquid from a mixture of liquids
works when liquids have different boiling points
heats(evaporates)> cools (condenses)
how is fractional distilation different to normal distillation
different from distilation cause it separates mixture into different parts called fractions
how does fractional distillation work
- crude oil is heated to evaporate
- crude oil fed at bottom of a tall Column as hot vapour
- hot at bottom cool at top, several condensers coming off at different heights
- gases condense when they reach their boiling points
- different fractions are collected as different liquids at different levels
boils/condenses at different temperatures cause of different sizes of molecules
what has the lowest boiling points
Petrol , refinery gas (shorter carbon atoms)
what has the highest boiling points
bitumen, oil (longer carbon atoms)
cool to form very thick liquids or solids at room temperature
what are properties of short chain alkanes
low boiling point
less viscous( more runny)
more volatile(more likely to turn into a gas)
more flammable (easier it burns)
what are the properties of long chain alkanes
high boiling point
more viscous( less runny)
less volatile(less likely to turn into a gas)
less flammable (harder it burns)
where is crude oil derived from
biomass found in rocks, over millions of years
what comes out of the bottoms of fractional distillation Collums
residue
very thick, mixture of long-chain hydrocarbons, used in making roads and flat roof
what happens when the fractions have been collected
they need more processing before they can be used
are the long chain atoms near the bottom of the top in fractional distillation
substances with higher boiling points (long chain) condense at bottom and lower boiling points (short chain) condense at least he top
each fraction contains hydrocarbon molecules with a similar number of carbon atoms